Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri is considering giving up on the possibility of returning to the government as a minister and appointing another MK from the Shas party to serve as Health Minister in his place, Walla reported Wednesday.
Sources close to Deri claim that the Shas chairman believes he will encounter legal difficulties in attempting to return to the government even if the bill reducing or eliminating the ‘reasonableness standard’ is passed into law.
In January, the Supreme Court disqualified Deri from serving as a minister, ruling that his appointment as Health and Interior Minister was ‘unreasonable’ given his multiple convictions for crimes committed as Interior Minister, including a conviction for tax offenses last year.
According to the sources, no final decision has been made, but if Deri decides not to pursue a return to the government, Shas MK Uriel Boso, the chairman of the Knesset Health Committee, would be appointed Health Minister.